So, as a result, the ripple effects of high corn prices are being felt across the world and in other food commodities like beef and chicken.

"The worst US drought in half a century is further evidence that we are in the midst of a global food crisis," wrote Jeremy Grantham in a recent op-ed for The Financial Times. "In 2007-08, there were riots in more than 20 countries, as the cost of commodities surged."

However, scientists around the world hope to address this problem with an ambitious product: lab-grown meat. And leading the charge is Dutch scientist Mark Post, who expects to cook the first lab-grown hamburger this fall. He also expects lab-grown meat to be commercially viable in 20 years.

The Food Crisis Is Real

Jeremy Grantham is an accomplished investor who has earned legendary status. He heads Boston-based investment management firm GMO. And he is one of the most well-informed and vocal alarmists of a future food crisis.

We are five years into a severe global food crisis that is very unlikely to go away. It will threaten poor countries with increased malnutrition and starvation and even collapse. Resource squabbles and waves of food-induced migration will threaten global stability and global growth. This threat is badly underestimated by almost everybody and all institutions with the possible exception of some military establishments.

The Outlook

It is difficult to forecast exactly how much food will be needed in the long-run. However, most analysts seem to agree that the demand for food will double before the turn of the century.

"The general assumption is that we need to increase food production by 60 percent to 100 percent by 2050 to feed at least a modest sufficiency of calories to all 9 billion+ people plus to deliver much more meat to the rapidly increasing middle classes of the developing world," writes Grantham.

The World Health Organization estimates that the demand for meat will double in the next 40 years.

One of the key drivers of this demand will continue to be China, whose rapidly growing middle classes is increasingly consuming meat.

And Grantham warns that this could be a threat to national security:

China, more concerned with future resource security than others, will find it particularly tempting to throw its increasing economic and military weight around. This risk also seems to be ignored or underestimated by national governments, although the military arms of several, including the U.S., seem to be exceptions.

Risks of a Food Crisis

"The UN has estimated that the world will be able to increase food production by 60 per cent over the next four decades," writes Grantham.

But he is highly skeptical that we'll be able to meet those targets.

Grantham notes that grain productivity has been falling since 1970. Also, mined fertilizers like potash and phosphate are being depleted.

This, combined with the rising cost of energy, means food prices are likely to surge.

Food researcher Hanna Tuomisto, as reported by Reuters' Kate Kelland, lab-grown meat would produce up to 95 percent less greenhouse gas and use about 98 percent less land than traditional livestock production.